Shift Your Shopping Monadnock Style

From November 1st to December 31st each year, Monadnock Buy Local (Southwestern New Hampshire) works extra-hard to ensure our spending matches the values we support. To make our “think local first” message stronger, we engage in the Shift Your Shopping campaign, which serves as the backbone for our holiday season outreach. All the events and promotions we offer in our region remind individuals to do their best to “Shift.”

We offer a variety of events and promotions to remind us of our commitment, including our popular Plaid Friday event the day after Thanksgiving. Individuals wear plaid while out in the community to show their support for our local economy. Independent businesses serve as Plaid Friday Hubs, acting as Shift Your Shopping ambassadors while taking photographs of shoppers for our Plaid Friday Collage. We thank our friends in Oakland, CA for coming up with this awesome event!

We also encourage community members to take the Shift Your Shopping pledge via our website and Facebook Page, making their intention to buy from locally-owned businesses public. For example:Marcia D. of Keene pledges to shift 80% of her shopping to her favorite locally owned businesses including Hannah Grimes Marketplace, Everything New England and all businesses on Main St. in Keene, NH.Our local bookstore, Toadstool Bookshops, launched Cider Monday in 2013. Instead of Cyber Monday, a day when online merchants offer special deals, independent businesses invite all to stop in for a free cup of cider and browse their amazing selection.As shopping habits evolve, Shift Your Shopping gives us the flexibility to innovate and respond to new trends — while forming a tradition in our little corner of the world. A tradition that celebrates our local economy and community and offers an antidote to the mainstream shopping frenzy that descends upon us each November. We invite you to bring this tradition to your community, too!

Tools and Resources

Support Your Local, Independent Merchants

Let’s build an annual tradition that strengthens local economies, expands employment, nurtures a sense of community, and provides a more relaxed, fun, and rewarding gift-buying experience.

If you join us in shifting those dollars to locally owned, independent businesses, we’ll all generate 2-3 times as much economic activity in our community than if we had spent our money at a national chain.